Fernandez ready to build on strong rookie season in battle for setup role

JUPITER, Fla. -- When he used the winter to get away from baseball -- and to get back to playing video games with Tampa-based buddies who teasingly called him “Big Shot,” -- Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez was finally hit with the magnitude of all he accomplished in 2024.

As a Rule 5 Draft pick, MLB rules required that the 26-year-old Fernandez remained on the Cardinals’ roster all of last season or he would be returned to the Red Sox. But instead of him being some ceremonial development project that the club hesitated before using, Fernandez ultimately evolved into one of the Cardinals’ feel-good stories in a bullpen that was far and away a team strength.

How good was Fernandez? He struck out the side in his MLB debut against the Padres. He got his first two MLB saves on May 22 and Sept. 4, and his first win came on July 23 against the Pirates. On Sept. 1 at Yankee Stadium, Fernandez not only retired the side in order in the ninth inning of a 14-7 Cards win, but he also struck out superstar slugger Aaron Judge and got Juan Soto to roll over a ground ball to the right side.

Heady stuff, indeed, that had Fernandez shaking his head in amazement.

“I knew that I could do it [at the MLB level], but at the same time, there's always that little bit of doubt in the back of your head,” admitted Fernandez, who struck out two and pitched a scoreless inning in the Cardinals' 3-2 win over the Nationals on Saturday. “Being able to finish the full year out and have it be a pretty damn good year for my first year, that was really cool. When I finished the year, I definitely was like, ‘Holy [expletive], I really just did that.’”

Fernandez did all that -- including retiring Soto and Judge -- with one of the game’s nastiest sinkers. The run value (9) on his slider ranked in MLB’s 93rd percentile, while his whiff rate (31.5%) was in the 88th percentile, per Baseball Savant. Fernandez threw his slider 48.2 percent of the time in 2024, and batters hit just .182 against that pitch while recording a 36.4 percent strikeout rate.

Those kinds of promising numbers have the Cardinals wondering if the right-hander might be ready for the high-leverage innings filled mostly by Andrew Kittredge last season. Kittredge, who led the National League in holds with 37, signed with the Orioles as a free agent in January. The Cards are hopeful that JoJo Romero, Matthew Liberatore, John King or Fernandez can be the bridge to get the ball to star closer Ryan Helsley, who had a club-record 49 saves in 2024.

“We’re hoping to see how it shakes out as we get closer to breaking here, but that’s a really important part for us,” manager Oliver Marmol said of the setup reliever in front of Helsley. “It was one of the strengths that we had last year, bridging that gap to [Helsley], but there’s no clarity on that at the moment. I don’t think there’s a good answer to it until we see these guys more, but certain guys are going to have to step up.”

Fernandez stepped up in a 2024 season in which he didn’t have expectations placed on him, compiling a 3.51 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 62 outings -- 46 of which he did not surrender an earned run in.

The Cardinals clearly saw something in the 700th pick from the 2018 MLB Draft and someone who had a 6.16 ERA in 26 outings for Red Sox Triple-A affiliate Worcester in ‘23. Improving the vertical break on Fernandez’s four-seam fastball ultimately made his diving slider even more effective.

At the time he was selected by the Cardinals in the Rule 5 Draft in December of 2023, Fernandez said he was playing video games with friends and responded with, “Me?” when told that St. Louis plucked him out of Boston’s system. This offseason, he was back with those same buddies who razzed him about hitting the big time.

“They're all just saying, I’m a big shot now and I'm going to forget them,” joked Fernandez, who pitched a scoreless inning earlier this week in Tampa against the Yankees. “It's just funny stuff and cool to go home and see that they're supporting me.”

This season, Fernandez will be debuting a new changeup and some newfound confidence that he belongs in the big leagues.

“I never necessarily thought I didn't belong, but probably like 10 or so innings into [2024], I was like, ‘OK, I can do this and be consistent,’” Fernandez said. “Last year, I didn’t even know if I was going to make the team. Obviously, I still have to prove myself, but it's nice to know I can do it.”